All Team

A former officer in the German Bundeswehr, he studied aerospace engineering and has 20 years’ professional experience in the aviation and defence industries. He has been with General Atomics for 12 years and is responsible for the sales of unmanned aerial vehicle systems. 

Colonel Thomas Kettinger leads a section within the Air Materiel Division of the Austrian Ministry of Defence and is responsible for the national UAV program. In this role, he oversees market and technology analysis, international cooperation efforts, and the definition and evaluation of operational requirements. His responsibilities further include project management, the development of airworthiness criteria, and lifecycle management of unmanned aerial systems within the Austrian Armed Forces.

Lukas Kerschdorfer is Co-Founder and CEO of GuardAero. Born in Tyrol, he leads the company’s operations in Styria and Bavaria. He holds degrees in Mechanical Engineering as well as Production Science & Management from Graz University of Technology. Lukas Kerschdorfer served as a mountain infantryman in the Austrian Armed Forces and is a passionate hunter.

Arnold Kammel is Secretary-General at the Austrian Federal Ministry of Defence (BMLV), where he is responsible for key strategic and security policy matters.

A retired fighter pilot turned tech entrepreneur, Sameer 
Joshi is the driving force behind India’s most dynamic defence startup. As CEO of Bangalore-based NewSpace, he leads a team of innovators building the future of swarm robotics and persistent ISR. Sameer’s unique blend of operational expertise and entrepreneurial drive has positioned NewSpace as a leader in India’s booming Aerospace & Defense ecosystem.

Jozef Hrabina is a geopolitical risk consultant and the founder of GeopoLytics, a consultancy firm dedicated to navigating the intricate dynamics of global and regional politics. With experience in academia and consultancy across Kyiv, Moscow, Canada and the European Union, Jozef brings extensive expertise from the post-Soviet space, strategic security studies, and geoeconomics. Since 2022, Jozef has had multiple opportunities to survey the entire Ukrainian frontline.

Lieutenant General Bruno Hofbauer has held several senior leadership positions within the Federal Ministry of Defence. He headed the General Staff Division, became Director of the Directorate for Fundamental Planning in 2017, and was appointed Chief of Planning of the Austrian Armed Forces in 2021. Since 2023, he has served as Deputy Chief of the General Staff.

Recognized by Forbes as one of the 50 most influential CEOs in the Middle East, Bob Harward brings decades of senior leadership experience spanning both military service and the defense industry. A retired U.S. Navy Vice Admiral and former SEAL, he served on the National Security Council under President George W. Bush. His final military assignment was as Deputy Commander of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM). He was later asked by President Trump to serve as National Security Advisor.

Thomas Haber has been Director Programs & Product at Quantum Systems GmbH since 2025. Prior to that, he worked at BWI GmbH from 2018 to 2023, most recently as Head of Customer Solution Unit Land & Air, and from 2013 to 2018 at Cancom SE, most recently as Manager Partner Management & Solution Design. At „DroneVation“, he will speak on the orchestration of unmanned systems in multi-domain operations.

Since 2017, Thomas Gruber has been active in the field of industrial 3D printing. At his company, Trivion 3D Druck & Engineering GmbH, highly complex titanium and polymer components are produced, including for the defence industry. This tool-free manufacturing technology supports innovation, particularly in drone development and large-scale production.

Konrad Górski works with commercial, public, and government clients across the globe on drone strategy, market analysis, regulatory frameworks, and technology deployment. His experience includes helping critical entities understand the current drone threat landscape and identify relevant countermeasures for infrastructure protection.

Ulrike Franke is an expert on European and German defence policy, and the use of new technologies in warfare. She is a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) think tank, based in Paris. Her areas of focus include German and European security and defence, the future of warfare, and the impact of new technologies such as drones and artificial intelligence on geopolitics and warfare.